I Took It, So I Took It!

Mongge pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out.

Why did the Marines attack him, why did they surrender immediately after attacking, and why did they leave an entire cargo ship full of "Celestial Gold" behind after surrendering?

Was this...

An attempt to solidify the fact that he had stolen Celestial Gold, and then incur the wrath of the Celestial Dragons?

Mongge had to admit, it was a poisonous scheme.

With the loss of Celestial Gold, the Marines responsible for escorting it would definitely be punished.

But with their insufficient strength, if the World Government wanted to heavily punish these Marines, the higher-ups in the Marines would try their best to plead for them.

In the end, the blame would still fall on Mongge.

Before, the World Government might not have cared about Mongge. Even if Mongge possessed Admiral-level combat power, they might not have taken him seriously.

But stealing Celestial Gold was a different story.

To recover the Celestial Gold, the World Government would definitely order the Marines to pursue him with all their might. Once his whereabouts were exposed, he would likely face a siege by several Admiral-level powerhouses.

However, would Mongge be afraid?

The cargo piled up in the ship's hold before Mongge's eyes was roughly estimated to be worth at least two billion Belly.

This was two billion Belly without inflation!

Mongge's own head wasn't worth that much.

"I've already stolen it, why the hell should I be afraid!"

With so much money, even if the Marines wanted him to be a scapegoat.

He would accept it!

As for why his whereabouts were exposed, Mongge could only attribute it to their lack of discretion when they last landed on the island, which allowed the Marines to find their location.

There was nothing strange about that.

The reason he left Elbaf was to prevent the Marines from mistakenly believing that the White Wolf Pirates had joined forces with the giants of Elbaf, and thus block Elbaf's sea routes in advance.

But as long as the White Wolf Pirates appeared in the Marines' intelligence system, the Marines would not easily attack Elbaf.

It was just that he needed to be more careful next time.

"Lipri, can you shrink all these goods and send them to our ship?"

"No problem!"

Lipri's voice was more enthusiastic than ever.

Growing up, she had never seen so many strange and exotic luxury goods, as well as glittering gold and silver jewelry. It almost blinded her eyes.

Fortunately, Lipri had eaten the Mini Fruit, which not only allowed her to control her own size but also shrink any item she touched.

Even people.

However, how small a person could be shrunk depended on Lipri's proficiency with her Devil Fruit ability, and there were also situations where certain special individuals couldn't be shrunk.

For example, Charlotte Linlin.

After mastering her Devil Fruit ability, Lipri could shrink the Giant King Harald, who was twice the height of a normal giant, to the size of a normal human, without Harald resisting.

But when facing Charlotte Linlin, Lipri's Devil Fruit power faltered.

Therefore, Mongge guessed.

Charlotte Linlin's physique might be related to Haki.

Ordinary people's Haki was in a dormant state. Because the reserves were too small, they needed to train their bodies to the extreme before they could guide the Haki within their bodies.

Charlotte Linlin's Haki, however, had been in an activated state since birth.

To maintain such a state required a large amount of physical energy, which was why Charlotte Linlin suffered from Gluttony Disease.

This was a self-preservation instinct of the body.

In the future, Charlotte Linlin would have instances where her physical condition became ineffective due to emotional loss of control, which also verified that Charlotte Linlin's talent was not purely physical.

Of course, the specific details could only be verified by Mongge when he returned to Elbaf and began training Charlotte Linlin.

A cargo ship piled high with goods was something any pirate crew couldn't swallow all at once. The best solution was to take the entire ship with them.

But with Lipri's efforts, Mongge and his crew managed to transport all the "Celestial Gold" into their ship's hold in less than half a day.

Not only did it solve the financial problem, but it also solved the food problem.

"Even milk is Celestial Gold?"

Rocks took a big gulp of milk from the cargo ship and couldn't taste any difference from the milk he usually drank in Elbaf.

"Haha, Celestial Gold doesn't just refer to gold and silver jewelry. Some rare plants, animals, and even rare races are also a form of Celestial Gold."

"Rare races?"

"That's right. This world has a commodity called 'slaves,' and rare races, as 'slaves,' can be sold at high prices."

Mongge's disgust was unconcealed on his face.

Because his past crew included slaves captured by slave traders, Mongge was well aware of the suffering of being a slave.

"Doesn't that mean we robbed the right people?"

"You could say that."

If he were robbing a legitimate merchant fleet, Mongge might have felt a pang of guilt, but robbing the Celestial Dragons' Celestial Gold? He had absolutely no psychological burden!

"However, this Celestial Gold is all ill-gotten gains, and it's not easy to fence stolen goods in ordinary places. I'll look for an island where pirates gather nearby."

Mongge dragged a large chest out of the captain's cabin. It was filled with compasses bearing various labels, astonishing Lipri, who was watching.

"Are these all Eternal Poses?"

"That's right. This is the most valuable treasure I've accumulated over the decades!"

A self-satisfied smile spread across Mongge's face.

Before becoming a pirate and owning his own fleet, Mongge mostly acted alone, a veritable wanderer of the seas.

How could a wanderer not be able to navigate the seas?

Therefore, in the White Wolf Pirates, Mongge was not only the captain but also the navigator. This was his confidence in venturing out to sea, regardless of the number of crew members.

"Found it."

An island not recorded on conventional compasses appeared in his mind. Having found its Eternal Pose, Mongge's face broke into a smile.

"Next, our destination is—"

"Sphinx!"

One day later.

Lieutenant General Robby, who had rushed over from Marine Branch GL-9, saw a cargo ship that had been completely emptied, not even a rat left inside.

"So they came prepared, did they?"

When he first heard the plea for help from Lieutenant General Ackerman, who was in charge of escorting the cargo ship, Robby had doubted the authenticity of the situation. After all, pirates robbing Celestial Gold was something that might not happen once in a hundred years.

Didn't those pirates know that robbing Celestial Gold would incur the wrath of the World Government and their Marines?

But seeing the empty cabins before him, Robby no longer had any doubts.

"After gaining the strength to confront a Marine Admiral, the White Wolf Pirates are now raising funds to further expand their influence?"

Robby's expression grew grim as he considered this.

This was no longer a problem he, a mere Lieutenant General, could handle. He had only come to provide support, hoping to find any clues the White Wolf Pirates might have left behind.

Engage the White Wolf Pirates?

Don't be ridiculous!

"Contact Headquarters immediately and report that the White Wolf Pirates may be planning a terrible conspiracy and require Admiral support!"

"Yes!"